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Swiss Athlete of the Year

16.12.2007 | Off Court

Roger has been named Swiss Sportsman of the Year again after having won the award in 2003, 2004 and 2006.

He is only the second athlete after cyclist Tony Rominger to have received the trophy four times. "It's always an incredible feeling to win these awards from my home country, even if people always say I'm the big favourite," he said in a live video link from his training camp in Dubai on Saturday.

Our star said he was close to tears after being congratulated in video messages from former champions Bjorn Borg, Roy Emerson and Pete Sampras. Sampras, who still holds the record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles, told Federer to "have fun" breaking that record.

"It's amazing to hear messages like that," Roger said, "and of course breaking Pete's record would be a dream for me. "Everyone says I'm just two wins away and it will happen this year. Well, that would be nice, but I'm just concentrating on staying fully fit and fully motivated."

Borg, whose record of five straight Wimbledon victories was equalled by Federer this year, said he was sure the Swiss would go on to become the sport's greatest ever player.